Friday, March 18, 2016

Left-Libertarian, would be a solid way to describe my own politics I believe. I prefer Liberal or even Classical Liberal, Social Liberal even, but I'm someone whose all about individual freedom. But that it should be for everyone. That everyone should have the opportunity to achieve that and not have to live off any welfare state or private charity if just given the opportunity to live freely. And that is where government has a role. Not as the director of society, but as a supporter and even referee. Not to call the plays and coach the teams, but to step in when predators break the rules that hurt the innocent. So that is where I guess Left-Libertarians, or Social-Liberals and Liberals, disagree with the Ron Paul Classical Libertarians lets say. Who just want government to stay home and perhaps arrest people when take from someone else's freedom. Or stop invaders when they invade the country.

The Left-Libertarian argument for the welfare state or what I prefer is the safety net, is that poverty is a real threat against freedom. And it keeps people down trapped away from freedom. So what you can do with a social insurance system is to help those people in the short-term and prevent them from having to deal with the worst forms of poverty like homelessness. As well as help them get on their feet and live in freedom and not off of taxpayers. Which promotes freedom and for everyone else, because you're creating new taxpayers and real consumers with real resources to consume the products that are made by the private market. Which creates good jobs for everyone involved. Not an argument for a big centralized superstate where states and localities become almost non-relevant, or high taxes across the board. That discourages individual freedom and individualism. Just an insurance system for people who truly need it to help them achieve freedom as well.Monetrix Academy: Social Liberalism

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Donald Trump’s most idiotic moments. Tough thing to write down and to name, because that list grows larger everyday. Sort of like the belly of an obese man stuck at an all you can eat meat lovers buffet. The only thing that Donald Trump’s reality TV show for a presidential campaign has proven and that’s exactly what it is and is only serious in a technical sense, but the only thing he’s proven is that he isn’t qualified to be President of the United States. You don’t get to the Major Leagues by never ever playing any organize baseball. You at least start at high school if not sooner. Then you get drafted and start your professional career in the minors, or you play college baseball. Because there’s a large learning curve between the little leagues and Major Leagues.

The Donald is trying to learn about American politics and government and what it means to be President literally on the fly. Perhaps getting some information from whatever advisors he might have who are risking their professional reputations by being associated with his reality show/presidential campaign. When Fox News struggles to take a Republican presidential candidate especially the frontrunner seriously as a presidential candidate and doesn’t believe he’s qualified to be President, whether it’s Megyn Kelly, Bill O’Reilly or Chris Wallace, you know their might be a problem with the frontrunner. Fox News makes fun of The Donald. This is not just MSNBC and NPR. The national media loves the ratings they get from him, but don’t see him as President and that includes FNC.

All right you want my list (so far) of most idiotic statements that Donald Trump has made since he launched his latest reality show called “Who Wants Donald Trump For President?” (Every stupid voter dumb enough to buy used cars at the original price. Even if they’re missing a tire and door) Well I’m going to tell you anyway.

1. “Mexico is going to build the wall.” With no plan to accomplish that.

2. “Mexican immigrants are raping American women.” With no evidence.

3. “Muslims celebrated 9/11 in New York and New Jersey. Again no evidence. Even Governor Chris Christie, one of his hostages, I mean spokesmen contradicted him on that.

4. “Barack Obama doesn’t have a legitimate birth certificate.” He became President of the Birther States of America when he said that. Which is every state that doesn’t have a metro center.

5. Saying he would pay the legal bills of people who beat up protestors at his campaign rallies. You could probably get him on inciting violence on that one alone.

If the Donald Trump reality show/presidential campaign was just a bad Showtime or HBO movie or mini-series, I wouldn’t have any issue with it other than it being bad TV. But as a free American I could choose not to watch it. But this guy actually is running for president and not only that, but is likely the next presidential nominee for the second largest political party in America. That actually does have a rich history pre-Tea Party meltdown that they’re still suffering through. A man who doesn’t have any qualifications to have the most important job in the world, but likely to be on the ballot for president in all fifty states.IM Forever: Donald Trump's Wildest Moments

I disagree with Nick Gillespie for a couple of reasons on this. When I’m willing to take Donald Trump seriously as a presidential candidate and not some bad reality TV performer whose just there to perform a role, draw ratings and attention and promote their future career, then I might take The Donald seriously as not just a presidential candidate, but a Far-Right fascist authoritarian. Every Anne Coulter Neoconservative utopian fantasy come true. But the problem is Senator Marco Rubio so far has the best comment about The Donald’s presidential campaign and that he called him a con man. The Donald you see today is not The Donald from even five years ago, let alone ten years. The Donald Trump we see today politically we’ve never seen before. No one has and he’s losing friends as a result.

As far as Senator Ted Cruz, I don’t buy him as an authoritarian either. Demagogue? Sure. Hyper-partisan? Sure. Someone who believes in shutting down the government over governing even though he’s an elected government official? Sure. But those things alone don’t make you an authoritarian. If you look at Senator Cruz’s positions when it comes to civil liberties like the Patriot Act and the broader War on Terror, marijuana legalization, criminal justice reform, right to privacy, he does very well there. And is one of the strongest proponents of civil liberties in Congress and he’s only been there for a little more than three years. And even on issues where he would disagree with Liberals such as myself and Libertarians such as Nick Gillespie, he takes a federalist approach. Instead of the neoconservative big government nationalist view.

As far as the future of the Republican Party. Do they want to be a big government neoconservative authoritarian party, or do they want to be a conservative-libertarian party where both Conservatives in the Ted Cruz sense and Libertarians in the Rand Paul sense, can thrive and succeed? Assuming Donald Trump is there next presidential nominee and we’ll know tomorrow night how close he is to that, they probably need to lose another presidential election big and lose most of the big states before we see which direction they go in. Because if The Donald is their next presidential nominee, he’s going to lose and lose big. Even if he moderates for the general, because he’s already on record for taking so many Far-Right neoconservative views. As it relates to women, Latinos, Muslims, etc. And won’t win the presidency simply by winning a shrinking a Caucasian working class. And the Christian-Right.

Thursday, March 10, 2016

I agree with Ayn Rand's point about without individualism and individual initiative people wouldn't have the resources to help others, because no one would be creating, producing and taking care of themselves. And for this reason, every successful country has at least a certain amount of greed and individualism. We don't tend to be a country or world of angels and tend to be motivated to do the right thing. And sometimes that means taking care of yourself. And a collectivist could say that the people who aren't able to take care of themselves the community will step in and take care of them. Fine, but if there at least isn't a large population of people who are individually successful and taking care of themselves like paying their bills, putting money away and enjoying life, there won't be the resources to help the people who aren't doing those things.

There's a reason why we're all born as individuals and all separate people. Instead of being joined with others at the hip and other places on the body, legs, arms, etc. Because we're different people and our own person. At least that is how we start out in life. Some of us decide that we don't want to be ourselves and perhaps don't like ourselves that much and instead feel the need to be like other people that we respect more than ourselves. But we all start off in life with our own brains and the ability to think and learn and then use that knowledge to examine it and make our own decisions. These are great things to have. Diversity is a great thing whatever the situation or thing is. Whether is is race, ethnicity, religion and yes even politics. All democracies are very diverse when it comes to their politics.

Without individualism people become clones and cult followers of whoever the latest so-called celebrity is, even if that celebrity is in jail. Or some cases become cult followers of politicians they think are like totally awesome at the time or whatever. Ron Paul from 2011-12 comes to mind real fast. Barack Obama would be another from 2007-09. Where people would digest everything those men would say and do as if they became that person themselves. I unfortunately have personal experience with Ron Paul cult followers on Facebook. Where I would post something there and somebody could comment on it and in many cases using a screen name like Ronny Paul or some other name that sounds like Dr. Paul's, with one of Dr. Paul's quotes. Even if the quote has nothing to do with my post. That is not what we want to be as a country a liberal democracy that should always be the freest country in the world.

A certain cult following like that unfortunately seems to be developing for Donald Trump. One of the last people in the world who should have a cult following based on his own personal life. That is not healthy for a country that professes individual freedom, individual initiative, creativity, etc. We need a country of individuals who can think and learn for themselves and then apply that knowledge to become creative productive people as well. Who can bring people to themselves not as cult followers, but teach others how to be creative productive individuals as well. Who don't take everything that someone says even their American idol at face value, because they can think and reason for them self. And know when their heros are right and even wrong. Who can take the best available information and facts and imply them to make the best decisions for themselves. You can only have all the progressive social welfare programs that you can pay for. The people who pay for them are the individuals and creators who make those programs possible.

I agree with Ayn Rand's point about without individualism and individual initiative people wouldn't have the resources to help others, because no one would be creating, producing and taking care of themselves. And for this reason, every successful country has at least a certain amount of greed and individualism. We don't tend to be a country or world of angels and tend to be motivated to do the right thing. And sometimes that means taking care of yourself. And a collectivist could say that the people who aren't able to take care of themselves the community will step in and take care of them. Fine, but if there at least isn't a large population of people who are individually successful and taking care of themselves like paying their bills, putting money away and enjoying life, there won't be the resources to help the people who aren't doing those things.

There's a reason why we're all born as individuals and all separate people. Instead of being joined with others at the hip and other places on the body, legs, arms, etc. Because we're different people and our own person. At least that is how we start out in life. Some of us decide that we don't want to be ourselves and perhaps don't like ourselves that much and instead feel the need to be like other people that we respect more than ourselves. But we all start off in life with our own brains and the ability to think and learn and then use that knowledge to examine it and make our own decisions. These are great things to have. Diversity is a great thing whatever the situation or thing is. Whether is is race, ethnicity, religion and yes even politics. All democracies are very diverse when it comes to their politics.

Without individualism people become clones and cult followers of whoever the latest so-called celebrity is, even if that celebrity is in jail. Or some cases become cult followers of politicians they think are like totally awesome at the time or whatever. Ron Paul from 2011-12 comes to mind real fast. Barack Obama would be another from 2007-09. Where people would digest everything those men would say and do as if they became that person themselves. I unfortunately have personal experience with Ron Paul cult followers on Facebook. Where I would post something there and somebody could comment on it and in many cases using a screen name like Ronny Paul or some other name that sounds like Dr. Paul's, with one of Dr. Paul's quotes. Even if the quote has nothing to do with my post. That is not what we want to be as a country a liberal democracy that should always be the freest country in the world.

A certain cult following like that unfortunately seems to be developing for Donald Trump. One of the last people in the world who should have a cult following based on his own personal life. That is not healthy for a country that professes individual freedom, individual initiative, creativity, etc. We need a country of individuals who can think and learn for themselves and then apply that knowledge to become creative productive people as well. Who can bring people to themselves not as cult followers, but teach others how to be creative productive individuals as well. Who don't take everything that someone says even their American idol at face value, because they can think and reason for them self. And know when their heros are right and even wrong. Who can take the best available information and facts and imply them to make the best decisions for themselves. You can only have all the progressive social welfare programs that you can pay for. The people who pay for them are the individuals and creators who make those programs possible.Liberty Pen: Ayn Rand- Individualism

Tuesday, March 8, 2016

What's Donald Trump's position on health care and health insurance? Well to sound like Mitt Romney, it depends on which Donald you ask. In 2004 Donald Trump during that presidential election was asked about health care reform and said he liked the single payer government-run health insurance option, or at least was open to it. Lately he's expressed openness to the individual mandate when it comes to health insurance which is already in the 2010 Affordable Care Act. The individual mandate was actually offered by the Neoconservative Heritage Foundation in 1993. And was part of the Senate Republican alternative to the Clinton Administration's health care reform plan in 1993-94. Now he's saying that he would repeal the ACA, but would have some insurance plan for people who simply can't afford health insurance, but hasn't laid out yet what that would be.

This is just one big problem that two-thirds of Republican voters and a lot of the rest of the country have with Donald Trump for president right now. Who is this guy and what does he believe? The campaign he's running now looks more like Pat Buchanan for president in 1996 and 2000 than it looks like a Tea Party presidential campaign. Which is his current base right now. At least with the Neoconservative/Christian-Right wing of it. The Conservative-Libertarians, are going for Senator Ted Cruz. And Donald Trump supporters seem to have no interest in the man's actual record and apparently could care less about it even if they read it. Because if they looked at it they would see this guy has nothing in common with them and had been on the opposite side of most of their issues for most of his life. But now he apparently wants to be president and is speaking a different tune.

Donald Trump is nothing more than a used car salesman and a damn good wealthy one who owns his own chain of used car lots. Who has a supposed answer and solution to everyone's concerns and issues. And tell everyone he has a deal for them without being able or willing to put any details on the table. Because he doesn't want to or can't, because he's afraid to be seen as the fraud that he is. And nothing more than a big mouth who every time he opens it shows how lacking in knowledge and judgment and even demeanor he is when speaking about the problems and issues that he promises he'll solve. I think we saw some evidence about the Republican Party finally waking up to these facts this last weekend and we'll see what Tuesday night if more Republicans are waking up to that as well. Or does the Donald Trump Reality Show For President continue to roll on.Liberty Pen: Donald Trump- Government-Run Health Insurance

What's Donald Trump's position on health care and health insurance? Well to sound like Mitt Romney, it depends on which Donald you ask. In 2004 Donald Trump during that presidential election was asked about health care reform and said he liked the single payer government-run health insurance option, or at least was open to it. Lately he's expressed openness to the individual mandate when it comes to health insurance which is already in the 2010 Affordable Care Act. The individual mandate was actually offered by the Neoconservative Heritage Foundation in 1993. And was part of the Senate Republican alternative to the Clinton Administration's health care reform plan in 1993-94. Now he's saying that he would repeal the ACA, but would have some insurance plan for people who simply can't afford health insurance, but hasn't laid out yet what that would be.

This is just one big problem that two-thirds of Republican voters and a lot of the rest of the country have with Donald Trump for president right now. Who is this guy and what does he believe? The campaign he's running now looks more like Pat Buchanan for president in 1996 and 2000 than it looks like a Tea Party presidential campaign. Which is his current base right now. At least with the Neoconservative/Christian-Right wing of it. The Conservative-Libertarians, are going for Senator Ted Cruz. And Donald Trump supporters seem to have no interest in the man's actual record and apparently could care less about it even if they read it. Because if they looked at it they would see this guy has nothing in common with them and had been on the opposite side of most of their issues for most of his life. But now he apparently wants to be president and is speaking a different tune.

Donald Trump is nothing more than a used car salesman and a damn good wealthy one who owns his own chain of used car lots. Who has a supposed answer and solution to everyone's concerns and issues. And tell everyone he has a deal for them without being able or willing to put any details on the table. Because he doesn't want to or can't, because he's afraid to be seen as the fraud that he is. And nothing more than a big mouth who every time he opens it shows how lacking in knowledge and judgment and even demeanor he is when speaking about the problems and issues that he promises he'll solve. I think we saw some evidence about the Republican Party finally waking up to these facts this last weekend and we'll see what Tuesday night if more Republicans are waking up to that as well. Or does the Donald Trump Reality Show For President continue to roll on.

Friday, March 4, 2016

It is probably a good thing that we do have roller coasters in America, because they are a great way to describe American life. And of course so are sports analogies and even political campaigns. Life is all about ups and downs. Without our ups, life could be pretty depressing. Even prison inmates have good days in prison, the ones who use their time wisely anyway and avoid solitary confinement. And of course we all have our downs. But without those downs it would be hard to improve ourselves. Because we would always think everything and perhaps ourselves especially is perfect. And always one Wall Street crash away from coming down to Earth. Because of how overconfident we are about ourselves as individuals. Which would always be a great recipe for narcissism.

I guess my main advice for everyone everyday is to learn something new everyday. Especially about yourself and learn something that is somewhat negative about yourself so you always have room and opportunity to improve. Always learn something that is positive about yourself as well, if you can. So you can be as happy about yourself while always keeping it real (to use a cliche) about who you really are. Never think you struck gold about something and now you're invincible. Because every time you get to the top of the mountain know that the only way to go from there is down. And the question then is how far and how fast. Always know that there is a positive thing about being in the valley. Because the only way to go from there is up. And you always have that opportunity of self-improvement.

Life is a roller coaster, because we all make mistakes all the time. There's always something that we could have done or said to make something better than it turned out. Or perhaps there was something we should have said or known, but didn't because we didn't have enough knowledge at the time. Because we simply weren't as smart as we should have been. But again with mistakes come opportunities if played right at self-improvement. 'This is what I did wrong. This is what I should have done instead. Now that I know better I won't make that mistake again, because I've learned from it.' The smart people aren't perfect. The smart people are the people who know themselves the best. And because of that make mistakes all the time, but don't make the same mistakes twice. Because they learn from their mistakes. Smart people are always learning And that is what I call the roller coaster of life. Ups and downs and the smart people are the people who have the most ups, because they always learn from their mistakes and don't make the same mistakes again.

Wednesday, March 2, 2016

One of my favorite Milton Friedman quotes is 'without liberty there is no security.' As well as without security there is no liberty, because then there would just be chaos. But I hate this neoconservative argument that somehow individual freedom and privacy threatens security, because somehow it gives people freedom to threaten the state and the security of the people. You need a limited government and national security state protecting the people from predators foreign and domestic. But you do that by targeting criminals and terrorists. Not treating everyone as terrorists and eliminating the guaranteed Right to Privacy in America and suggesting that everyone is a potential suspect until proven otherwise. Even in this so-called War on Terror that Bill of Rights and U.S. Constitution is still there and still relevant.

There's no such thing as individual freedom and limited government in a national police state. Whether it is in the Middle East or Russia or North Korea or what Neoconservatives want in America. But with limited government even the national security state in that government is held accountable and is limited under the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights as far as how it can regulate society and what it can do and for the people. You eliminate the Fourth Amendment and the Bill of Rights and you not only eliminate limited government in what's supposed to be a liberal democracy, but you eliminate individual freedom. Especially personal freedom and the Right to Privacy. So when Congress and the President pushes anti-terrorism laws, they still have to comply with the U.S. Constitution, or they're simply unconstitutional and should be thrown out.Liberty Pen: John Stossel Interviewing U.S. Senator Rand Paul- Liberty vs Security

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About Me

I'm a full-time blogger about everything that I'm interested in. Mainly about current affairs, news, politics and history. But I think like most people I'm interested in a lot of different things. I kind of like to know what is going on around and everything that is important and interesting. Instead of spending my a lot of my free time trying to find out everything that is going on in the world of sports. Or who is the latest hot pop culture celebrity and why that person is in jail, or who they're current seeing and so-forth.

I like to know what is going on in sports. What are the good movies that are coming out and if people I like and respect will be in them. But I also want to know about what is going on in government and politics. Since we all have to pay for that whether we like it, or not. And it affects all of us whether we like that, or not. I want to know about everything that is important and interesting. Especially if it is interesting and one of the reasons I love being a blogger is that I get officially weigh in on things that I'm interested in and knowledgeable about.

I don't consider myself to be an expert on anything. But I'm knowledgable about everything that I comment on and blog about. Comes with being interested in a whole wide-range of subjects. And watching a lot of news sports and otherwise, as well as reading about those things. And watching a lot of documentaries. And another thing about being a blogger is that you hear how knowledgeable you're public thinks you are. Which I welcome, just as long as the public keeps their comments professional, respectful and on subject.